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AN 

ADDRESS 

or 

THE  TRUSTEES 

OF  THE 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY 

IN  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW- YORK, 

TO 

THEIR  FELLOW-CITIZENS, 

RESPECTING  THE 

EXTENSION  OF  THEIR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


NEW-YORK  : 

PBINTED'bT  J.  SEYMOUR,  JOHN-STREET. 


1828. 


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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gin  01  Si  ymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


You  are  requested  to  use  your  influence  in  carry- 
ing into  effect  the  Plan  proposed  in  the  following 
Address. 


Ex  IGtbrtfi  . 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  wails 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


AN 

ADDRESS 

or 

THE  TRUSTEES 

OF  THE 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY 

IN  THE 

CITY  OF  NEW-YORK, 

TO 

THEIR  FELLOW- CITIZENS, 

RESPECTING  THE 

EXTENSION  OF  THEIR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


NEW-YORK  : 

PRINTED  BY  J.  SEYMOUR,  JOHN-STREET. 

1828. 


CLAJ51C5 
H\ 

?3 

mi* 


ADDRESS. 


The  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  feel  con- 
strained to  appeal  to  their  fellow-citizens  upon  the  importance 
of  enlarging  the  means  of  Common  Education.  A  full  know- 
ledge of  our  condition  cannot  but  produce  a  universal  con- 
viction that  our  present  system  of  instruction  is  inadequate 
to  our  wants. 

There  is  no  part  of  our  state  which  has  the  means  of  more 
ample  endowments  for  public  instruction ;  nor  is  there  any 
part  of  it  where  the  common  welfare,  not  to  say  the  common 
safety,  so  imperatively  demands  them — and  yet  we  are  com- 
pelled to  confess,  that  there  is  not  within  the  state  a  single 
district  of  any  magnitude,  with  which  we  could  institute  a 
favourable  comparison. 

It  is  an  object  of  primary  importance  to  ascertain,  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  the  number  of  our  children  within  the 
proper  ages  for  instruction,  who  are  entirely  destitute  of  it. 
It  is  impossible  with  the  data  which  we  possess,  to  arrive  at 
a  precisely  accurate  result ;  but  it  will  be  perceived  by  the 
following  statement,  that  if  we  have  fallen  into  an  error,  it  is 
not  that  of  exaggeration. 


Provision  is  made  by  law  for  ascertaining  in  all  other  parts 
of  the  state,  the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  5 
and  15,  and  also  the  whole  number  annually  instructed  ;  and 
it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  it  does  not  extend  to  this  city. 
It  appears  by  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  1827, 
that  in  other  parts  of  the  state,  the  ratio  of  scholars  in  the 
public  and  other  schools  to  the  whole  population,  was  as  1  to  5 
— 1  to  4 — and  1  to  3;  and  that  these  are  about  the  average 
ratios  which  prevail  throughout  the  state,  with  the  exception 
of  this  city.  In  this  city  this  ratio  is  less  than  1  to  7,  suppo- 
sing the  population  to  have  advanced  with  the  same  rapidity 
since  1825,  as  in  the  preceding  five  years. 

If  we  adopt  for  our  city  the  proportion  furnished  by  the 
above  report,  and  founded  upon  actual  official  returns,  be- 
tween the  whole  population,  and  the  children  within  the  ages 
above  mentioned,  the  result  will  be  that  we  had  45,300  of 
these  children  in  1825,  when  our  population  was  but  166,000. 
If  the  increase  of  our  population  since  1825  has  been  in  the 
same  ratio  as  from  1820  to  1825,  we  must  add  to  this  num- 
ber of  children  more  than  7000,  making  the  whole  number 
52,300.  About  10,000  children  are  taught  at  our  public  and 
charity  schools.  It  was  ascertained  by  a  committee  of 
teachers,  about  four  or  five  years  since,  that  we  had  200 
male  schools.  It  is  a  liberal  allowance  to  suppose  the  female 
schools  equally  numerous.  If  we  add  to  these  numbers  100 
schools,  and  allow  35  scholars  to  each  school,  which  we  are 
persuaded  is  an  over  estimate,  we  have  17,500  for  the  private 
schools.* 


*  This  estimate  corresponds  with  the  opinions  of  those  best  acquainted  with 
this  subject. 


5 


We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  number  of  Sunday 
scholars  who  go  to  no  other  schools.  But  it  is  evident,  that 
this  number  cannot  be  large,  because  the  whole  number  of 
scholars  in  the  Sunday  schools  does  not  exceed  that  in  the 
public  schools  by  more  than  2000,  and  because  we  know 
that  a  large  proportion  of  Sunday  scholars  attend  private 
schools. 

From  the  best  inquiries  we  have  been  able  to  make,  the 
number  of  those  scholars  who  attend  no  other  schools  does 
not  exceed  one  in  twenty,  or  GOO  in  the  whole. 

The  result  of  these  estimates  is,  that  we  have  twenty-four 
thousand  two  hundred  children,  within  the  ages  of  5  and  15, 
who  attend  no  school  whatever. 

A  large  number  of  children,  principally  boys,  are  taken 
from  school  as  soon  as  they  arrive  at  14,  and  some  even  at 
12  years  of  age,  to  be  bound  out  to  service,  and  others  are 
withdrawn  even  at  ten  years  of  age  for  other  purposes.  If 
we  allow  one  half  of  the  whole  number  above  mentioned  to 
have  been  withdrawn  from  school  before  the  age  of  15, 
though  perhaps  one  third  would  be  nearer  the  truth,  the  re- 
sult will  be  as  follows  : 

Whole  number  of  children  between  5  and  15 

years  of  age,  .  .  .  52,300 

Ditto,  attending  public  schools,  .  10,000 

Ditto       ..        private    do.       .  .  17,500 

Ditto  ..  Sunday  do.  not  before  in- 
cluded, ....  600 

Ditto,  withdrawn  before  the  age  of  15,  12,100  40,200 

Leaving  12,100 
Twelve  Thousand  Children,  between  five  and  fifteen 
years  of  age,  entirely  destitute  of  the  means  of  instruction. 


G 

This  computation  leaves  out  of  view  all  those  children 
of  tenderer  years,  who  ought  to  be  introduced  into  infant 
schools. 

The  density,  magnitude,  and  character  of  our  population, 
give  to  this  subject  a  deeper  interest  here,  than  it  can  have 
elsewhere.  The  single  fact  that  20,000  emigrants  arrived 
within  our  city  during  the  past  year,  presents  this  subject  in 
a  sufficiently  striking  point  of  view. 

Believing  that  the  relative  importance  of  our  city  in  the 
state  and  national  councils — that  the  security  of  our  rights, 
of  our  property,  nay  of  our  lives,  depends  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  the  people,  and  essentially  upon  their  intelligence — the 
Trustees  cannot,  under  the  present  state  of  things,  suppress 
their  anxiety  and  alarm. 

In  many  of  our  sister  states,  the  deep  interest  of  the  peo- 
ple in  common  education  may  be  traced  back  to  the  very 
formation  of  their  earliest  institutions.  They  regarded  the 
proposition  that  our  republican  institutions  rest  upon  the  ge- 
neral intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people,  as  something 
more  than  a  mere  theory.  In  our  own  state,  the  towns  in 
the  several  counties  have  been  authorized  to  provide  by  tax- 
ation for  the  erection  of  school-houses,  and  "  for  fuel  and 
appendages,"  and  have  also  been  empowered  to  levy,  in  the 
same  way,  a  limited  amount,  annually,  over  and  above  the 
sum  necessary  to  secure  a  participation  in  the  common  school 
fund.  In  the  city  of  New-York,  there  is  no  legal  provision 
whatever  for  the  support  of  common  schools,  except  from 
the  state  fund  ;  and  that  is  on  the  condition  that  the  city  shall 
raise  an  amount  equal  to  that  received. 

It  is  time  for  us  to  pause,  and  inquire  whether  this  sub- 
ject has  yet  received  the  consideration  to  which  it  is  en- 


titled,  and  whether  our  public  schools  occupy  their  merited 
station  among  our  political  institutions. 

It  appears  to  the  Trustees,  that  the  due  order  of  things 
has  been  inverted  ;  that  our  common  schools  are  not  the  pro- 
per objects  of  a  parsimonious  policy,  but  are  entitled  to  an 
endowment  not  less  munificent  than  the  best  of  our  institu- 
tions.  Neither  the  sick  nor  the  destitute  have  higher  claims 
upon  us  than  the  ignorant.  The  want  of  knowledge 
is  the  most  imperative  of  all  wants  ;  for  it  brings  all  oth- 
ers in  its  train.  If  education  be  regarded  as  a  charity,  it 
is  the  only  one  whose  blessings  are  without  alloy.  It  de- 
mands no  jealous  scrutiny  as  to  the  claims  of  its  appli- 
cants, nor  does  it  require  to  be  so  stinted  as  not  to  mul- 
tiply their  number.  The  obligations  which  rest  upon  us, 
in  regard  to  this  great  interest,  both  as  men  and  chris- 
tians, are  sufficiently  obvious  and  imposing.  To  these  are 
to  be  added,  the  peculiar  claims  which  are  addressed  to  us 
as  the  citizens  of  a  free  country.  If  we  would  preserve  our 
free  institutions,  the  means  of  education  must  be  co-exten- 
sive with  the  right  of  suffrage. 

Although  the  knowledge  of  an  individual  may  not  always 
be  accompanied  with  corresponding  virtue,  yet  we  hold  it  to 
be  certain,  that  politically  considered,  the  community  will 
always  be  more  or  less  virtuous  as  they  are  more  or  less  en- 
lightened. All  private  interests  harmonize  in  the  public  good, 
and  the  more  clearly  this  is  perceived,  the  more  will  a  single 
view  to  the  public  welfare  be  regarded  as  the  test  of  public 
spirit,  and  the  just  measure  of  popular  favour. 

If  it  be  not  true  that  the  political  power  of  the  people  is 
generally  employed  for  what  seems  to  them  their  own  good, 
we  must  abandon  all  the  theories  of  a  republican  govern- 


8 


menu  If  this  power  be  thus  employed,  we  need  only  en- 
lighten the  mind  which  directs  it,  and  it  is  our  fault  if  it  be 
not  found  on  the  side  of  virtue  and  patriotism.  Let  it  not 
be  supposed,  that  we  would  separate  the  power  of  knowledge 
from  that  of  morals  and  religion.  The  remarks  we  have 
made,  we  wish  to  be  understood  as  applied  to  the  people  in 
their  civil  relations.  But  if  we  go  farther,  and  regard  reli- 
gion and  morals  as  the  highest  objects  of  education,  as  they 
truly  are,  it  certainly  will  not  be  denied  that  education  fur- 
nishes the  principal  and  almost  the  sole  means  of  their  dif- 
fusion. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  uneduca- 
ted and  unenlightened  must  necessarily  be  the  mere  play- 
things and  tools  of  political  ambition.  Those  base  men  who 
pervert  their  station,  or  abuse  the  public  confidence  for  pri- 
vate purposes,  have  nothing  to  fear  but  from  just  sentiment 
and  enlightened  opinion.  Prejudice  and  ignorance  are  the 
very  elements  from  which  proceed  all  popular  error,  confu- 
sion, and  violence.  It  is  the  business  of  education  to  purify 
this  atmosphere,  and  to  drive  out  the  pestilence.  The  hand 
which  perchance  may  wield  the  public  destinies,  is  nothing 
in  itself;  it  is  the  terrible  engine  which  it  puts  in  motion 
which  alone  is  to  be  dreaded. 

It  may  not  be  without  just  cause  that,  in  some  other  coun- 
tries, it  is  considered  a  dangerous  thing  to  enlighten  the  peo- 
ple. But,  with  us,  the  question  of  their  political  power  is 
settled  ;  and,  if  they  are  true  to  themselves,  it  is  settled  for 
ever.  We  wish  to  keep  that  power  in  their  hands,  and  to  en- 
able them  to  exercise  it  with  wisdom.  The  labouring  classes 
have  been  justly  called  the  back-bone  and  sinews  of  the  re- 
public.   It  is  not  enough  that  they  know  how  to  read,  write, 


and  cast  accounts.  We  wish  to  provide  for  them  better  ex- 
citements than  they  now  have.  We  wish  them  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures,  as  well  as  other  advantages,  of  intellectual 
occupation.  We  wish  them  to  be  able  to  understand  and 
admire  the  beneficence  of  the  Creator  in  the  works  of  his 
hands.  We  wish  them  to  feel  that  virtue  is  the  first  distinc- 
tion among  men,  and  knowledge  the  second,  and  to  be 
themselves  the  great  exemplar  of  these  truths. 

Entertaining  these  views,  we  hold  that  there  is  no  object  of 
greater  magnitude  within  the  whole  range  of  legislation — no 
more  imperative  demand  for  public  revenue,  than  the  estab- 
lishment of  competent  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning. 
We  hold  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  nothing  can  be  better 
entitled  to  a  share  of  the  public  revenue,  than  that  from 
which  private  and  public  wealth  derive  all  their  value  and 
security.  In  short,  our  schools  are  the  very  foundation, 
upon  which  rest  the  peace,  good  order,  and  prosperity,  of 
society. 

It  is  time  to  pass  from  this  general  view  to  a  more  parti- 
cular consideration  of  the  necessity  and  nature  of  the  re- 
form which  is  called  for.  We  conceive  that  our  present  es- 
tablishments are  altogether  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the 
community. 

The  money  expended  upon  public  schools  in  Boston,  in 
the  year  18*26,  amounted  to  upwards  of  $54,000,  exclusive 
of  all  expenses  of  building.  From  the  best  information  we 
can  obtain,  the  expenditures  of  that  city,  for  the  same  object, 
during  the  past  year,  amounted  to  $70,000. 

The  whole  revenue  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  New- 
York,  exclusive  of  about  $4,400  received  from  pay-scholars, 

for  the  year  ending  on  the  first  of  May  last,  was  less  than 

1* 


10 


$20,000.  This  sum  includes  all  the  public  moneys  expended 
upon  common  schools,  except  $2,155  50  cents  distributed  to 
the  Mechanics',  the  Orphan-Asylum,  and  the  Manumission 
societies.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to 
strengthen  this  statement  by  any  comments  we  could  make. 
We  shall  hereafter  point  out  those  particulars  in  which  we 
conceive  that  our  plan  of  public  education  needs  to  be  en- 
larged. 

We  have  already  stated,  that  our  present  system  does  not 
harmonise  with  the  spirit  of  our  political  institutions.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  schools  of  the  society  were  formerly  ex- 
clusively "  free  schools."  It  was  thought  that  a  reluctance 
naturally  arising  from  a  general  spirit  of  independence,  to  re- 
ceive even  instruction  as  a  charity,  would  exclude  many  from 
the  benefits  of  education. 

The  removal  of  this  impediment,  by  receiving  compensa- 
tion from  such  as  choose  to  make  it,  has  doubtless  been  at- 
tended with  very  beneficial  consequences.  Public  instruction 
has  been,  to  a  considerable  extent,  freed  from  its  degrading 
associations  with  poverty  and  charity. 

Still  these  consequences  have  not  been  so  extensive  as 
was  hoped.  About  two-thirds  only  of  the  whole  number 
admitted  into  our  schools  are  pay-scholars.  It  is  not  certain 
what  portion  of  these  would  have  been  excluded  if  the  old 
system  had  continued. 

It  is  now  in  the  power  of  the  public  to  remedy  this  evil 
entirely,  and  to  introduce  a  corresponding  benefit,  which  the 
pay-system  was  never  competent,  nor  even  designed,  to  pro- 
duce. 

We  desire  to  see  our  public  schools  so  endowed  and  pro- 
vided, that  they  shall  be  equally  desirable  for  all  classes  of 


11 


society.  To  effect  this,  the  means  of  instruction,  which  are 
offered  to  the  poor,  should  be  the  very  best  which  can  be 
provided.  They  may  not  all  be  able  to  proceed  so  far  in  the 
patli  of  learning  as  others  in  happier  circumstances.  But  to 
the  extent  of  their  progress,let  them  have  all  the  helps  which  the 
present  state  of  knowledge  affords.  This  is  no  mere  fanciful 
theory.  The  advantages  of  a  free  intercourse  and  competi- 
tion between  persons  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  in  life,  as 
exhibited  in  the  Edinburgh  High  School,  have  been  admira- 
bly illustrated  by  one  of  the  first  British  orators  of  the  age. 
He  regarded  such  an  institution  as  invaluable  in  a  free  state; 
because,  to  use  his  own  language,  men  of  the  highest  and 
lowest  rank  in  the  community  sent  their  children  there  to  be 
educated  together.  The  practical  beneficence  of  this  sys- 
tem is  attested  by  the  noble  institutions  of  a  sister  city.  It 
is  by  such  an  union  and  intercourse,  that  the  real  worth  of 
outward  distinctions  is  perceived — that  the  highest  rewards 
of  merit  are  felt  to  be  equally  offered  to  all — that  the  jealou- 
sies, which  are  too  apt  to  arise  from  difference  of  condition, 
are  melted  away — and  that  the  relations  which  subsist  be- 
tween the  different  classes  of  society  are  felt  to  be  relations 
of  mutual  advantage  and  dependence,  and  not  those  of 
hostility. 

We  are  aware  that  it  will  be  regarded  by  many  as  im- 
practicable, that  these  advantages  should  ever  be  realized 
to  the  full  extent  we  have  contemplated  under  the  peculiar 
local  circumstances  of  this  city.  This  objection  is  not  with- 
out foundation  ;  but  we  are  satisfied  that  it  will  be  found  to 
grow  less  and  less,  the  more  our  system  of  education  is  im- 
proved ;  and  that  it  will  be  principally  confined  to  the  lower 
schools.    But  if  it  be  admitted,  that  an  equal  distribution  of 


12 


the  blessings  of  education  to  all  classes  of  society  can  never 
be  realized,  this  surely  does  not  lessen  its  importance  to  those 
who  cannot  receive  it  without  our  aid. 

If  we  would  make  our  schools  what  they  ought  to  be,  we 
must  offer  higher  rewards  for  the  qualifications  of  teachers. 
The  dignity  of  the  office  of  teacher  has  been  too  often  mea- 
sured by  the  subjects  of  instruction.  It  has  been  thought 
that  those  pursuits  which  are  level  to  the  capacities  of  boys, 
do  not  require  the  talents  which  are  called  forth  by  the  active 
competition  of  men.  This  estimate  proceeds,  in  part,  from 
the  idea  that  education  consists  in  teaching  certain  truths, 
as  it  were  by  rote — whereas  its  highest  office  is  to  instil  prin- 
ciples and  call  forth  the  powers — to  instruct  us  how  to  think — 
to  teach  its  pupils  how  to  make  that  which  they  derive  from 
other  sources,  their  own,  not  by  the  mere  tenure  of  memory, 
but  by  incorporating  it  with  the  very  substance  and  strength 
of  their  faculties. 

We  hasten  to  present  to  the  public  some  changes  in  our 
system,  which  we  think  necessary,  and  others  which  we  hope 
to  see  adopted  sooner  or  later. 

It  is  obvious,  from  what  we  have  already  said,  that  these 
schools  should  be  supported  from  the  public  revenue,  should 
be  public  property,  and  should  be  open  to  all,  not  as  a  charity, 
but  as  a  matter  of  common  right. 

We  propose,  that  Infant  Schools  should' be  established 
throughout  the  city,  to  receive  children  from  three  to  six 
years  of  age.  The  separation  of  these  from  older  children 
is  necessary,  to  prevent  disorder,  and  to  economise  time  and 
labour.  The  instruction  of  these  children  is  peculiar  ;  its 
expense  is  very  trifling,  and  is  much  more  than  repaid  by  the 
great  domestic  economy  which  results  from  it.    We  need 


not  enlarge  upon  its  benefits.  It  is  obvious  that  the  recep- 
tacles of  these  children  must  be  numerous,  and  be  dis- 
persed throughout  the  city,  and  that  they  should  be  under  the 
charge  of  females. 

The  difficulty  of  sending  very  young  children  to  places  of 
instruction,  is  among  the  principal  obstacles  which  debar 
them  from  its  benefits.  The  most  important  consideration 
respecting  these  schools  is,  that  they  appeal  to  parents  before 
they  have  any  apology,  or  even  motive,  for  keeping  their 
children  at  home,  and  that  when  these  children  are  once  in 
the  way  of  instruction,  they  are  likely  to  be  kept  there. 

In  the  next  place,  we  would  greatly  enlarge  the  number  of 
schools  in  which  a  common  English  education  is  taught.  A 
very  great  majority  of  the  scholars  will  leave  these  schools 
at  the  age  of  15,  or  at  an  earlier  period.  These  schools 
should  be  provided  with  such  means  of  instruction  as  are 
best  calculated  to  fit  their  pupils  for  the  various  departments 
of  mechanic,  mercantile,  and  agricultural  industry.  They 
should  be  amply  provided  with  teachers  of  pure  morals,  and 
sound  learning ;  with  men  who  are  capable  of  inspiring  and 
directing  a  just  ambition. 

The  schools  abovementioned  form  the  basis  of  the  plan 
which  we  propose,  and  until  its  foundations  are  firmly  and 
amply  laid,  we  would  not  proceed  another  step.  Let  these 
schools  be  increased  and  improved  until  they  shall  be  equal 
to  the  necessities  of  the  community — until  all  the  wants 
which  are  now  felt,  or  which  the  people  can  be  made  to  feel, 
shall  be  fully  supplied — until,  if  possible,  the  12,000  children 
who  can  now  neither  read  nor  write,  shall  be  gathered  into 
their  folds — and  until  our  instruction  shall  correspond,  both 


14 


in  kind  and  degree,  with  the  capacities  and  opportunities  of 
the  people. 

About  minor  points  their  will,  of  course,  be  differences  of 
opinion.  Whether  those  who  may  have  the  means  of  con- 
sulting their  inclinations  on  this  subject  shall  choose  to  send 
their  children  to  the  public  schools  or  not,  is  comparatively  of 
no  moment.  But  that  ample  means  and  inducements  should 
be  provided  for  all  who  would  be  otherwise  destitute,  is  of 
the  last  importance ;  and  we  trust  that  for  this  object  the 
opinions  and  efforts  of  all  will  be  united. 

Next  in  importance  to  this  object,  is  the  establishment  of 
one  or  more  High  Schools,  in  which  should  be  taught  practi- 
cal mathematics  ;  natural  philosophy  ;  book-keeping  ;  and  in 
short,  all  those  branches  which  are  desirable,  for  the  active 
business  of  life  in  any  of  its  departments,  the  learned  profes- 
sions excepted. 

We  would  also  recommend,  if  the  means  to  be  provided 
should  be  sufficient  for  that  .purpose,  a  Classical  School,  in 
which  the  ancient  and  modern  languages  should  be  tho- 
roughly taught. 

To  all  these  should  be  added,  a  Seminary  for  the  educa- 
tion of  at  least  such  Teachers  as  are  required  for  common 
schools. 

Thus  we  should  present  to  the  public,  establishments  for 
education  which  would  afford  ample  and  permanent  encou- 
ragement to  all  the  talent  of  the  community,  instead  of  hold- 
ing out  a  short-lived  patronage,  to  be  withdrawn  when  most 
needed — which  would  make  that  talent  public  property — 
and  which  would  open  to  universal  emulation  the  path  to  all 
public  distinctions. 

This  plan  is  not  without  example,  and  is  substantially,  with 


13 


the  exception  of  a  school  for  teachers,  in  successful  practice 
in  a  neighbouring  city,  to  which  \vc  have  before  alluded. 

To  effect  this  object,  the  Trustees  would  recommend  a 
tax  of  half  a  mill  upon  the  dollar,  on  the  amount  of  property 
in  the  city,  according  to  its  valuation  in  the  present  estimates 
of  assessment.  The  fund  thus  to  be  raised  should  be  for  ever 
kept  separate  from  all  other  taxes,  and  sacred  to  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  created. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  estimates  just  mentioned  fall 
far  short  of  the  actual  value  of  the  property  embraced  in 
them,  and  that  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  property  which 
they  do  not  touch.  If  no  allowance  were  made  for  these 
circumstances,  this  tax  would  amount  to  5  cents  on  a 
$100— to  50  cents  on  $1,000— to  $5  on  $10,000.  It  is 
true,  that  the  poor  man  who  puts  in  5  cents,  has  the  same 
direct  interest  in  the  fund  with  the  rich  man  who  contributes 
$50 ;  but  this  difference  is  more  than  made  up  by  the  indi- 
rect advantages  of  the  latter.  We  submit  to  the  liberal  con- 
sideration of  the  rich,  whether  their  proportion  of  this  mo- 
ney, expended  for  the  purpose  of  disseminating  wholesome 
knowledge  and  pure  morals,  would  not  be  a  profitable  invest- 
ment for  their  children  ;  and  whether  their  bonds  and  mort- 
gages, and  public  stocks,  are  altogether  beyond  the  reach  of 
public  opinion,  and  of  that  which  must  ultimately  depend 
upon  public  opinion,  the  administration  of  the  laws. 

We  may  go  still  farther  and  say,  that  in  so  far  as  the  ex- 
penditure proposed  is  necessary  for  the  establishment  of 
common  or  English  schools,  it  is  recommended  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  economy,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  that  word.  Those 
who  are  without  education,  must  always  be  a  degraded  caste. 
Having  no  prospect  of  a  material  improvement  in  their  con- 


16 

dition,  they  are  without  the  common  incentives  to  industry, 
and  hardly  know  what  frugality  means.  Those  who  are  unac- 
quainted with  the  habits  and  pursuits  of  humble  life,  do  not 
know  how  generally  education  is  connected  with  independ- 
ence, and  the  want  of  it  with  abject  poverty.  Add  to  this, 
that  the  caste  of  which  we  are  speaking,  for  such  it  unhap- 
pily is,  is  necessarily  removed  from  all  wholesome  social  in- 
fluences, and  that  they  are  the  natural  prey  of  the  cunning 
and  profligate,  and  it  will  be  perceived,  that  with  regard  to 
a  great  portion  of  them,  and  particularly  the  children  of 
emigrants,  we  must  choose  between  the  expenses  of  their 
education,  and  the  cost  of  their  maintenance  in  our  alms- 
houses and  penitentiaries.  It  is  proof  enough  of  this, 
that  small  as  is  the  proportion  of  those  who  cannot  read  and 
write  to  our  whole  population,  they  constitute  the  majority 
of  our  convicts  and  paupers. 

The  more  the  community  is  enlightened,  the.  more  equally 
will  its  burdens  be  borne.  It  has  not,  perhaps,  been  suffi- 
ciently considered  by  political  economists,  that  national  wealth 
chiefly  proceeds  from  the  activity  of  mind ;  and  must  there- 
fore be  proportioned  to  the  extent  and  universality  of  its 
developement.  There  is  a  striking  illustration  of  this  truth, 
in  a  lecture  not  long  since  delivered  by  Baron  Dupin  before 
one  of  the  Institutes  of  Paris.  It  appears  by  his  statement 
that  in  some  parts  of  France,  those  who  are  educated  are 
l-10th,  in  others  l-'20th,  in  others  only  l-2*29th  part  of  the 
whole  population ;  and  that  the  national  revenue  of  these 
districts  is  nearly  in  corresponding  ratios.  Nay  more,  that 
these  proportions  are  not  materially  varied  by  the  most  strik- 
ing superiority  or  inferiority  of  soil  and  climate. 


17 


It  may  be  said  that  we  have  mistaken  the  effect  for  the 
cause.  Wealth  and  education  undoubtedly  act  and  re-act 
upon  each  other.  But  it  is  certain,  that  there  would  be  little 
or  no  capital  without  education,  and  that  capital  derives  its 
power  of  accumulation  from  education ;  which  points  out  ifs 
uses,  and  creates  a  demand  for  it. 

If  it  were  necessary  to  add  any  thing  to  these  considera- 
tions, the  Trustees  might  claim  the  support  of  all  the  mid- 
dling and  even  wealthier  classes  of  society,  on  the  ground 
of  private  interest.  The  amount  of  their  taxes  would  be  re- 
paid to  them  fourfold,  by  the  greater  cheapness  of  educa- 
tion, even  supposing  they  were  to  avail  themselves  only  of  the 
higher  schools ;  and  it  will  doubtless  be  an  object  of  consi- 
deration to  some  individuals  of  these  classes,  that  the  cheaper 
education  is,  the  more  they  can  afford  to  purchase. 

It  would  be  impossible,  without  going  too  much  into  de- 
tail, to  show  how  great  a  saving  in  the  expenses  of  educating 
our  children  would  result  from  large  establishments,  under 
a  proper  superintendance.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  as  far  as 
experiments  have  been  made,  the  results  have  been  greater 
and  more  satisfactory  than  could  have  been  expected.* 

Is  it  necessary  that  the  Trustees  should  offer  any  further 
apology  for  proposing  that  a  small  portion  of  the  public 
wealth  should  be  devoted  to  the  great  objects  of  education  ? 


*  The  expense  of  teaching  7,044  pupils  in  Boston,  in  1826,  in  the  public 
schools,  was  $54,417.  The  expense  of  3,392  pupils,  in  private  schools,  was 
$97,305.  Something  ought,  probably,  to  be  allowed  for  there  being  a  greater 
proportion  of  scholars  in  the  private  than  in  the  public  schools  engaged  in  the 
higher  grades  of  education. 


We  perceive  no  evidence  of  a  parsimonious  spirit  in  our  public 
councils  in  regard  to  the  ordinary  objects  of  public  revenue. 
There  is  no  lack  of  taxation  for  lighting  and  guarding  our 
streets — for  our  alms-house  and  penitentiaries.  The  expen- 
ditures for  these  objects,  to  say  nothing  of  the  enormous  ca- 
pital invested  in  these  establishments,  amounted  in  the  year 
1826  to  upwards  of  $196,000.  The  expenditures  for  the 
same  objects  during  the  past  year,  amounted  to  $221,000. 
We  might  refer  to  inferior  objects  for  proofs  of  equal  public 
liberality.  In  short,  whenever  revenue  is  wanted  for  any 
purpose  deemed  important  to  the  comfort  or  character  of 
the  city,  it  is  a  matter  of  course  to  raise  it  by  tax.  We  hum- 
bly suggest  that  a  similar  liberality  ought  to  be  shown  to- 
wards an  object  inferior  to  no  other. 

We  will  not  anticipate  objections.  It  is  impossible 
that  there  can  be  two  parties  in  this  community,  one  in 
favour  of  education,  and  one  against  it.  We  have  none 
among  us  who  are  the  avowed  advocates  of  popular  igno- 
rance. The  blessings  of  generations  yet  unborn  await  the 
success  of  our  efforts.  In  their  behalf,  as  well  as  our  own, 
we  make  our  solemn  appeal  to  all  classes,  in  the  name  of 
religion,  of  humanity,  and  of  freedom.  We  would  say  to 
those  who  are  in  the  most  prosperous  conditions  of  life,  that 
the  best  security  for  their  prosperity  and  their  privileges,  is 
to  be  found  in  their  greatest  possible  diffusion.  To  those 
who  belong  to  its  humbler  ranks,  we  would  suggest,  that  no 
more  honourable  occasion  was  ever  offered  for  the  exercise 
of  that  political  power  which  our  free  constitution  has  given 
equally  to  all. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  FOR  1828. 


L)E  WITT  CLINTON,  President. 
LEONARD  BLEECKER,  Vice  President. 
GEORGE  T.  TRIMBLE,  Treasurer. 
L1NDLEY  MURRAY,  Secretary. 


TRUSTEES. 


STEPHEN  ALLEN,  Esq. 
HEMAN  AVERILL, 
MICAH  BALDWIN, 
SAMUEL  BOYD, 
JOHN  L.  BOWNE, 
JAMES  B.  BRINSMADE, 
ARTHUR  BURTIS, 
WILLIAM  BURTSELL, 
BENJAMIN  CLARK, 
WILLIAM  W.  CHESTER, 
ISAAC  COLLINS, 
ISAAC  U.  COLES, 
ROBERT  C.  CORNELL, 
SAMUEL  COWDREY, 
ISRAEL  DEAN, 
JAMES  F.  DEPEYSTER, 
CORNELIUS  DU  BOIS, 
ERASTUS  ELLSWORTH, 
WILLIAM  W.  FOX, 
JOSEPH  GRINNELL, 
JOHN  GROSHON,  Jun. 
CALEB  0.  HALSTED, 


ELEAZER  LORD, 
DANIEL  LORD,  Jun. 
DENNIS  MCCARTHY, 
HENRY  MEAD,  m.  d. 
THOMAS  R.  MERCEIN, 
SAMUEL  F.  MOTT, 
RALPH  OLMSTED, 
JAMES  PALMER, 
DRAKE  B.  PALMER, 
ELIAKIM  RAYMOND, 
THOMAS  RICHARDS, 
GEORGE  S.  ROBBINS, 
J.  SMITH  ROGERS,  M.  d. 
J.  I.  ROOSEVELT,  Jun. 
HENRY  RUTGERS,  Esq. 
ROBERT  SEDGWICK, 
SAMUEL  W.  SETON, 
FREDERICK  SHELDON, 
BENJAMIN  L.  SWAN, 
KNOWLES  TAYLOR, 
NAJAH  TAYLOR, 
WILLIAM  TORREY, 


STEPHEN  HASBROUCK,  m.d.  J.  VAN  RENSSELAER,  m.  d. 


RENSSELAER  HAVENS, 
WILLIAM  HOWARD, 
JOHN  R.  HURD, 
JOHN  E.  HYDE, 
JOHN  W.  LEAVITT, 
FLOYD  SMITH, 
GEORGE  PARDOW, 
JOHN  GRAY, 
JOHN  R.  PETERS, 


JOSHUA  UNDERHILL, 
EZRA  WEEKS, 
ANDREW  C.  WHEELER, 
MARINUS  WILLETT,  Jun.  m.  d. 
SAMUEL  WOOD, 
LEWIS  WILCOX, 
JOHN  N.  WELLS, 
TIMOTHY  HEDGES, 
JAMES  McBRAIR, 


NATHANIEL  RICHARDS. 


♦ 


